Got a few questions

Ok, apparently with Bartleby now completely comfortable with me, we can do sooo much now. She loves and craves coming out of her cage to play, interact, and get some scratches. It's amazing, we're having a great time. Ok so I got a few questions:

#1) I'm in the process of potty training her. I figured out her pre-poop move. She squats. Now, I'm going to have her poop only on her stand or cage but it happens so fast. Before I can get to her cage or stand, she poops. Is there anyway to keep her distracted from pooping while I hurry to get her to her toilet areas?

#2) When Bartleby eats, she eats with such force and strength. It's like she attacks her food and aggressively eats it. She loves to dig it out too. She poops normal, everything seems fine, and I can see she's healthy. I'm assuming this is normal bird behavior. Any ideas? Maybe she's playing I guess

#3) She never really has interest in any toy I put in her cage. She's not afraid of them she just kind of ignores them. Is there a way to get her fired up about her toys and enjoy playtime?

Thanks for any answers and advice!

Wow AP sounds like you've done a great job so far.

#1)You could try using a peice of paper or something to put under her when she is goes so you don't miss the opportunity. Once she recognises this as her pooping area move it closer to her stand until eventually it's on her stand. Once she realises that it's always on her stand she'll recognise the stand as the place to go - does that make sense?

Just one thing to consider - I read somewhere that if you get them used to going in just one spot they can get quite anxious if they need to go and can't get to thier pooping area. I'm not sure if this is true but it's something to think about.

#2 & #3) Shadow used to attack her food & wasn't interested in toys at all. This changed over time as she grew older - not sure if Bartleby is still young. She still goes silly with her sprouts and mumbles away when eating but is much calmer and loves her toys now. I know a few members here will play with the toys to teach thier parrots what to do.

Great Mel, thanks for the tips!

Hi ap, you doing a splended job, your birds are fornutate to have such a loving guardian.
Mel has covered the "poopies" part well "Hi Five" Mel, good advise. Could I make a suggestion, get her a baby potty. When out the cage, introduce her to the potty, when she comes out, and about every 15 minutes. If you see her squatting, quickly place her on the potty. So many birds have taken to this method, quickly, with no problems. When out her cage, and needs to go now, she walks up to the potty and says Mishka poopies.

Play with the toys on the floor to start off with, tease her laugh be bird crazy (you should not have a problem there LoL) :07: she will become curious and approach the toy. Also play with the toy on your lap, with her sitting there as well. If they are hanging in the cage, take them out play with them then replace them in the cage.
Hope this was usefeul

Just dropped in to let you know I am very impressed with your guardianship. Keep up the good work as it is so rewarding. Your questions have been answered well.

I was wondering the whole time how do you potty train and I found some info on the web.

Potty training
You can teach your parrot not to make a mess on you!! Do it this way: Every time you see your parrot makes a dropping, you can say something like “poop”. Your parrot will soon associate the word with the action. Then, when you take it out of the cage, put it on the floor, and give the command “poop”. It will soon realize that you want it to make a dropping. Pick it up after making its dropping and praise it for doing it. If you carry it along, for long periods of time, put it on the floor about every 20 min or so, or else observe it. It might give you an indication that it wants to “go” now. Place it promptly on the floor to relieve itself. NEVER EVER scold it for making “accidents”!!!!! And do know that some of them just don't ever take to potty training!


Wildré: Training your parrot

I think that is a real nice way and I am going to try it too.

Wildheart, with that list of reptiles I feel foolish using herper as a screen name. most I eer had was 5-6 herps at once.

#1) I'm in the process of potty training her. I figured out her pre-poop move. She squats. Now, I'm going to have her poop only on her stand or cage but it happens so fast. Before I can get to her cage or stand, she poops. Is there anyway to keep her distracted from pooping while I hurry to get her to her toilet areas?

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Mel has covered that quite well. Always keep a tissue nearby, and better yet; baby wipes. I love using baby wipes because they remove the mark that the urates leave behind.

2) When Bartleby eats, she eats with such force and strength. It's like she attacks her food and aggressively eats it. She loves to dig it out too. She poops normal, everything seems fine, and I can see she's healthy. I'm assuming this is normal bird behavior. Any ideas? Maybe she's playing I guess

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Being an owner of two tiels myself, I can tell you just from my personal experience that it's normal. Both of my boys will attack their food, and even wierder; they dance while they eat.

#3) She never really has interest in any toy I put in her cage. She's not afraid of them she just kind of ignores them. Is there a way to get her fired up about her toys and enjoy playtime?

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There are actually quite a few people that have come on here to ask that question (their names, I don't remember). In other words, it's pretty normal. Every bird is an individual, so some enjoy their toys while others ignore them. It's really nothing to be concerned about.

Like Mel mentioned, it's a good idea to actually demonstrate how to use a toy. When introducing my 'tiels to a new toy, it helps a lot to just fiddle with it and to sit them on my lap with it. They eventually get interested, so I hang it up in their cage for them to play undisturbed.

I am sorry but I cannot help you with potty training a bird. I can offer a lot of suggestions for dogs but not birds -LOL

My tiels don't attack their food but they do come down to eat as soon as you put fresh food out and they do it very heartily so maybe that could be called 'aggressively' too.

Out of my 33 tiels, only two females play with toys and not very often at that. The rest would rather spend their time hanging out with the other tiels, sunning themselves or preening so I would not worry about that if I were you..